Things Have Changed
by Lisa Smithers
Summary: Halt disappeared. For almost two years he was gone, kidnapped. Just recently, the rangers executed a mission to bring him home and free other prisoners. When he came back to Redmount, Will wasn't the same. Nothing was the same.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: Because I seem to be incapable of actually updating the "And the Sun Comes Up", I have made the poor choice to begin a different story, from an entirely different fandom. I hope you enjoy the results of this decision.**_

* * *

"You've been away a long time, Halt." Crowley looked at him across the fire, "Things have changed. Will isn't a just boy anymore."

"Yes, he is." Halt scoffed, "He's still an apprentice if I remember correctly."

"You haven't seen him yet, Halt."

"When exactly does he plan on coming?" Halt asked, "I've been away for almost 2 years. Is that not good enough reason for a visit?"

"He had a few things he needed to attend to first." Crowley said. "He should get here early tomorrow. It's late: we'd better get some sleep."

* * *

The next morning, Halt woke up unnecessarily early in anticipation of seeing his apprentice again. Halt sat on the porch of the cabin for hours, waiting for Will to arrive.

"Don't be surprised if he seems distracted," Crowley joined him on the porch. "He's got a lot on his mind."

"Like what?"

"Just a lot." Crowley was still wondering how Will handled as much as he did while still never seeming to be busy. He could commonly be found at his and Halt's cottage in the woods, practicing his archery or dual knife defense. Occasionally Gilan came over and taught him a few new techniques to practice, or sometimes a different ranger came and taught. Sometimes even Crowley himself did. Crowley had jokingly gave him the title of community apprentice.

Halt stood abruptly and watched the horizon as he saw a single person on horseback come over the hill. Crowley inwardly smiled to himself as Halt shifted his weight, doing all he could to keep himself from running up before Will got there. He could tell Halt was trying to act uninterested, as if he still saw Will everyday, but he was failing terribly.

Halt was slightly confused as Will urged Tug past the house and towards the stables. Will generally greeted him first. Ten minutes later, Will walked up to the porch. Halt expected Will to run up and give him a crushing hug, as always was his greeting after the two had been separated for awhile, but he didn't. He addressed Crowley first, shaking his hand. Then a smile inched onto his face as he turned to Halt. Halt stopped for a moment, doing something Will had never seen him do before. Halt was staring at him.

Will frowned. "Is my hood on wrong?" he asked.

"Uh- no, no. It's just-" Halt cleared his throat. "You've grown. A lot." Halt looked up at Will who was now several inches taller than him.

"That's generally what happens when time passes." Will smirked.

In the time Halt had been gone, Will's face had begun to turn from that of a boy's to that of a man's. His skin had tanned in a way that only days of hard riding could tan it, and his hair was cut shorted and more ragged. It looked darker that way, but Halt could still detect highlights of the brilliant blond that it had once been.

Halt subconsciously ran a hand through Will's hair, and down the side of his face as he took in the changes that had occurred to his apprentice.

Will raised a hand to meet Halt's, gently grabbing it and removing it from his face, concern showing in his eyes.

"Are you alright?" Will asked. "You're acting... strangely."

Crowley hid a smile as Halt quickly came up with a recovery.

"I could say the same thing about you." Halt answered, "I hope your archery skills have improved since I last saw you."

Will gave a slight chuckle, "Pretty awful, weren't they?"

Again, Halt was caught off guard, this time, by Will's voice. It had deepened so much since Halt had left.

Crowley was having quite a good time watching Halt and Will. Halt, for the first time that Will had seen, was acting on impulse and emotion. Will, Crowley could tell, was unsettled by it, thinking there was something wrong with Halt. Halt had never exactly been open with his affection for his apprentice, but after being gone for so long, it wasn't as easy to conceal.

"Let's see, you're a third year now, right?" Halt asked.

Will nodded, "It's going by too fast. I could use a little more time to absorb all the information."

Crowley rolled his eyes and Halt caught it, then started staring at Crowley expectantly.

"What was that Crowley?" Halt asked, "Something you need to add?"

"He's having no issues keeping up, despite what he says." Crowley said, "He's got the second highest overall score in examinations ever on record. Second only to yours, Halt."

Halt looked his apprentice over again. "Some room for improvement then, isn't there?"

* * *

Conversation slowly shifted from a reunion to a discussion of the conditions of Halt's return.

"So the Tenjing were paid by Gormag to kidnap Halt and keep him alive and out of the way until Gormag could deal with him?" Will asked.

"That's what seems to be the case." Crowley nodded, "It does seem strange though, that Gormag would use outsiders."

"Especially with how important Halt seems to be to him. I wonder why he went outside of the ring." Will agreed.

Crowley shrugged, "Who knows?"

There was a momentary lull in conversation, only to have it broken once again by Will.

"Did you hear about the riot at Kaylsnem?"

"No, hasn't made it's way here yet. What's going on?" Crowley asked.

"Apparently it's going to be Husmial all over again, " Will answered, "Thankfully though, it seems to be at a smaller scale."

"Does it warrant our help?"

"I don't think so. They should be able to handle it." Will shook his head, "James and Harrison have their ears to the ground. I'm hoping to pick up something that way, but I'm not sure it'll be talked about so far away."

"It should be. Not top notch news maybe, but it should at least be discussed among the royals, and therefore the guard." Crowley said, "And if it's not discussed, I doubt there's anything to worry about."

"But it could be if the Danah get involved." Will pointed out.

Halt was by now hopelessly confused and hopelessly irritated. He hated not knowing what they were talking about. He was unused to being the one in the dark.

"Alright, someone tell me what's going on." Halt said.

"Right, sorry, Halt." Will pulled a map out of his pocket, then proceeded to explain who the kingdom was allies with, and who they were enemies with.

What startled Halt the most was that Skandia had become two nations, Skandia, and now Anak.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up! How'd that happe?" Halt asked.

"There was a rebellion, some of the Skandians decided that Erak's views weren't in line with traditional Skandian values. They elected a new learder and promised to cause trouble if Erak didn't step down from his position as Oberjarl." Will explained.

"Give me some numbers."

"The nation was split pretty well in half. Maybe a few more on the rebel side." Will answered, "Crowley sent Gilan over there to help them come up with a compromise, and Gilan requested me as backup."

"Who tended his fief?" Halt asked.

"David went to his fief, and a final year tended to David's. Speaking of which, where is Roy?"

"Those cattle thieves came back." Crowley said,"There were only three of them so I sent him to deal with them."

"Never give up, do they?" Will sighed, "You'd think they'd have gotten the message by now."

"They're definitely persistent." Crowley shrugged, "May as well be routine by now."

Will nodded. Halt was still staring at the map.

"A lot has happened." He muttered to himself. After inspecting the map a while longer, he glanced up to Crowley and Will who were discussing the happenings in near by fiefs. Will seemed a lot more at ease around Crowley than he had previously been, implying that they had spent quite a lot of time together those past two years. Will also seemed to be more informed as to the happenings than he had been as well. More than that, he seemed to be more involved. They ate a brunch inside Crowley's cottage as Will got Halt up to date on the happenings in Redmount.

"Who's been tending my fief?" Halt asked, not having heard a name mentioned.

"Gil-" Will answered, but was cut off.

"Depends on how you want to count it, but according to the books, Gilan." Crowley said, eyeing Will.

"Who's taken Gilan's fief?" Halt asked.

"No one." Crowley said.

"So he's got two fiefs?" Halt was thoroughly confused.

"Sort of. Will has been running Redmount under Gilan's supervision." Crowley said.

"But- he's just an apprentice!" Halt exclaimed.

"And he's also the only one who knew Redmount well enough to do the job." Crowley shrugged, "It was only going to be temporary until we came up with a better option.

"Besides," Will said, "it doesn't matter now. You're back."

"Still, you were alone in that fief!" Halt said, "What would you have done if something big happened and you couldn't contact Gilan? What if it had to be taken care of right then?"

"Then I would do what had to be done." Will said, "Now, you're back in control of your fief, I'm your apprentice, and everything can go back to normal now. No big deal."

"What about Pravine?" Crowley commented.

"Alright, the new normal." Will adjusted, "Again, no big deal. Things have changed before and they'll change again. It's part of our training to adapt to the situation."

"What is Pravine?" Halt asked.

"It's Gaelic for persevere." Will said.

"I know that," Halt rolled his eyes, "what is it in this context?"

"It's hard to explain."Will said, "Pravine is a subdivision of the ranger corps. It consists of all the apprentices."

"Why would you need to do that?" Halt asked.

"They formed it so they would still have order and leadership in the even that something happened to us." Crowley explained.

"Us as in, all the rangers?"

"Yes." Will confirmed.

"Like that's going to happen." Halt said sarcastically.

Will and Crowley glanced at each other.

"It did."

* * *

_**A/N: Sorry to leave you on a cliff hanger, but AP chem is calling my name. I should have started on it at 2:00 and it's 5:00 now. I will regret my procrastination later, but hopefully you guys won't regret reading the results! **_


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: I'm back again my pretties, and what? So soon? Well I must actually be a productive member of society this week. I can't believe it!**_

* * *

"What?" Halt exclaimed, "How?"

"Every full ranger was captured and the kingdom was- it was in chaos. Riots, raids, arsons... " Will shuddered. It was definitely a memory he'd rather keep at bay. "That's when we formed Pravine. They knew someone had to do something. King Duncan was throwing knights at the problem, as usual, but they were only making it worse. They were trained well, but they didn't know who they were supposed to be fighting. I'll tell you about it later. We've got to get going, you need to report to Baron Arald. Thanks Crowley."

"Don't forget about the gathering this time, Will." Crowley teased lightly, "And perhaps it would be best if you were on time as well."

Will's face reddened slightly.

"You forgot a gathering?" Halt raised an eyebrow.

"Don't get onto him about it, Halt." Crowley admonished, "It wasn't his fault."

"Then who's fault was it?"

"He and Cordine were sent after some jewel thieves and it took a little longer to wrap up than expected." Crowley chuckled. "They showed up at the gathering grounds the next day when everyone was getting ready to leave. Besides, I wouldn't tease him about that considering what you pulled."

It was Halt's turn to redden.

Halt looked back, expecting to see his apprentice's widening grin, but saw only the hint of a smile.

"I'm going to saddle the horses." Will walked back towards the stables.

* * *

"What's going on with him?" Halt turned to Crowley. "Isn't he happy I'm back? I figured he would ride up, leave the horse standing saddled, then I was going to get onto him about not tending his horse."

Crowley thought it amusing, but not surprising, that Halt had tried to predict his and Will's reunion.

"He's growing up, Halt." Crowley smiled. "Gilan did the same thing, only you didn't notice because you never away for so long."

"But why isn't he smiling?" Halt frowned. "He always smiled. Always. Couldn't get the dang kid to be serious."

"As I said earlier, he's got a lot on his mind." Crowley sighed, "Sometimes I wonder if it's too much for someone young as him."

"Of course it is!" Halt was indignant. "He's an apprentice! His job is to learn the trade, and balance _limited _responsibility."

"Now that you're back, it'll take some of the weight off of him." Crowley leaned gently on the wall of the cabin, attempting to allay Halt's growing anger.

Crowley saw Halt's expression turn from frustration to joy as he heard a familiar whinny accompanied by the pounding of hooves.

"Abelard!" Halt's attention was instantly torn from Crowley. He stepped off the porch, running his hand's through the horse's mane and over his back, nose, and ears.

"He missed you." Will commented, with a slight smile as he walked up with Tug. "Looks like you missed him too."

"Did I ever!" Halt exclaimed, then hesitated. "Every time I saw a horse, I wondered what had become of him."

"Tug and I found him roaming the woods." Will ran a hand along Abelard's neck. "It's how we knew you were kidnapped- not just lost."

Halt turned to Will's horse, a grin on his face. "Thank you T-" Halt paused. "Will, this isn't Tug. Tug doesn't have silver on his ear."

"I lost Tug a year a go." Will said, "He died in battle. This is one of Tug's brothers."

Rangers tended to keep the same name for all their horses, so it made sense that Will would.

Halt briefly remembered having to retire the first Abelard due to a chronic limp that had developed from an arrow to the front leg. Halt had been devastated enough that he had threatened to leave the ranger corp if he couldn't keep riding his horse. Eventually, Crowley had talked some sense into him, and he'd stayed, taking another horse and naming it Abelard. Halt pushed the memories from his mind, not wanting the moment to turn melancholy. He was back where he belonged. With Will, with Abelard, Crowley, the rangers, and the rest of Redmount.

Will said nothing more about the loss of Tug the first.

Halt climbed atop Abelard, wincing as he felt the strain of a bruise, but then instantly relaxing at the familiarity of the saddle. His saddle.

* * *

_**A/N: And there we have it folks, kind of short, but it felt like the right place to leave off. I think I'll probably get on the next chapter pretty quick. "The muse is strong in this one."**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N: Updating 2 days in a row!? Wow! Before this little bunching, I hadn't updated in months! Well, that's spring break for ya!**_

* * *

"Nothing better, is there?" Will climbed onto Tug.

"Nothing better." Halt smirked, "Except maybe coffee."

Abelard snorted angrily and started to prance about.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding... Sheesh." Halt pulled the reigns snug and ended Abelard's tirade.

Not but five minutes into their journey, Will noticed Abelard give him a look, unbeknownst to Halt, that seemed to say _Watch this._

Conforming to the horse's wishes, Will continued to watch. Abelard purposely skipped a beat in his walk and Halt's balance was disrupted, causing him to grab Abelard's mane to stay in the saddle.

"It was a joke!" Halt glared at the horse.

Will smirked.

* * *

The next few miles of the journey were relatively calm, and silent.

Will's eyes scanned the area, but his head remained motionless, pointing straight forwards. Halt noted with amusement that Will made a slight, almost indistinguishable movement every time he heard something other than the horses' hooves clopping against the ground.

"I think you've spent too much time with the horses." Halt commented.

"Why do you say that?"

"Your ears twitch."

"Oh."

Several hours passed without sustainable conversation on either side, and Halt couldn't bare it any longer.

"Aren't you in the least bit curious about what happened while I was gone?"

Will shrugged. "I already know."

"How could you know? You weren't there."

"Wasn't I?"

Halt hesitated, exasperatedly debating his answer. He was just beginning to speak when they trotted up to Castle Redmount. Soldiers at the gate nodded when they came up.

"Ranger Will Treaty, Ranger Halt, the Baron is expecting you." The soldier said, then stepped away from the entrance.

"Treaty?" Halt questioned.

"I needed a last name awhile back, so Baron Arald made up one." Will explained, "It stuck."

They walked into the Baron's office room.

"Good to see you're back, Halt." Baron Arald said, standing immediately.

"Good to be back." Halt nodded, shaking the Baron's hand.

"Missing your coffee, I suppose?" The Baron teased.

"You have no idea." Halt glanced over at Will. "The tea they have over there is truly awful."

Arald turned to Will. "What about you? Glad to have your master take back the work?"

"I'm definitely glad to have him back," Will said, "Thought I fear there is plenty enough work for the both of us."

The Baron laughed, patting Halt on the back. Will thought he might have seen Halt flinch away from the contact, but dismissed it as his eyes playing tricks.

"True enough." The Baron agreed, "I suppose Gilan is waiting for you back at the cabin."

Will nodded.

"He is?" Halt turned to Will. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"He wanted to test you." Will said, "But I suppose that idea is blown now. However..."

It was at that point that Halt and Will's thoughts converged, and a plan developed. The Baron watched amusedly for a moment, then smiled and said, "I'll leave you two to your plotting. You can let yourselves out."

After a few minutes, Halt and Will started back to the cabin.

"So what did you come up with?" Halt asked. Will explained his plan.

"What about you?"

They had come up with similar plans, as it happened, with only a few minor differences. Halt had purposely put flaws in his plan to test his apprentice, and will did not disappoint. He instantly pointed out everyone of them. After a bit they agreed on a plan and rode on in silence.

"I was testing you earlier, you know."

"I know." Will answered. "I was testing myself as well."

"And how would that be?"

"I was trying to guess what your plan would be, and where you would put the flaws."

"Were you right?"

"Mostly, I didn't think you would use the roof though. I figured you would use the cellar."

"That might have worked," Halt mused, "It would take longer, but there would be less risk of him hearing us."

"It would also be more difficult to time correctly." Will pointed out.

"Almost impossible." Halt nodded thoughtfully.

Halt glanced towards his apprentice, a mischievous grin on his face. "This'll be good."

"It was when Gilan and I did it to Crowley."

"You got Crowley with it?!"

"Not exactly. We made him think he'd been robbed." Will said, "He screamed when he walked in."

"Why?"

"We hid Acorn." Will bit his tongue, "And all his other horses too."

* * *

Everything went according to plan. Except Gilan. Gilan did not go according to plan. He was supposed to stay sitting inside while eating his supper, but apparently, the front porch was a much more desirable location.

Halt and Will, who had hidden their horses about a half mile back, were now sitting stock still on top of Gilan's roof, while having a mini argument about who's fault it was, speaking only through the many glares they shot each other.

Unfortunately for them, they allowed themselves to be distracted enough by said argument, that they didn't notice Gilan leave the porch and walk inside. Which meant, that when they dropped themselves from the roof onto the porch on the count of three, they were met by... Nothing.

* * *

Gilan, after hearing a giant thump on his front porch, raced to the door, hand on his saxe. He opened it to see Halt and Will standing there, breathing hard, and both looking quite sheepish.

"It was his plan." Will shot a thumb towards Halt, who looked incredibly betrayed.

Gilan rolled his eyes. "I'm sure it was." he said. "Now that you've so rudely interrupted my supper, I suppose that you expect to join me?"


End file.
